Today's Birthdays in Music: September 1 (Ozawa, Humperdinck, Schikaneder)

1935 - Seiji Ozawa, Shenyang, China; conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

Seiji Ozawa conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Dvořák's Carnival Overture



1854 - Engelbert Humperdinck, Siegburg, Germany; composer (Hänsel und Gretel)

Wikipedia

Overture to Hänsel und Gretel (Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer conducting)



1751 - Emanuel Schikaneder, Straubing, Germany; impresario, actor, singer, librettist (Die Zauberflöte)


Wikipedia

Today's Birthday in Music: August 30 (Resnik)

1922 - Regina Resnik, New York City, U.S.A.; opera soprano and mezzo-soprano

Wikipedia

Regina Resnik sings:

(1965) "Les tringles des sistres tintaient" from Bizet's Carmen


(1990) As Mme Armfeldt, "Liaisons" from Sondheim's A Little Night Music

Today's Birthday in Music: August 29 (Roswaenge)

1897 - Helge Roswaenge, Copenhagen, Denmark; opera tenor

Grandi tenori
Wikipedia

Helge Roswaenge sings:

"Che gelida manina" (in German) from Puccini's La Bohème


(c. 1938) "Hier soll' ich dich denn sehen, Constanze" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 28 (Tucker, Giordano)

1913 - Richard Tucker, Brooklyn, U.S.A.; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Richard Tucker remembered

Richard Tucker sings two Italian songs: "Non ti scordar di me" and "Torna a Sorrento" (early 1960s?)


Richard Tucker and Renata Tebaldi sing the final duet "Vicino a te" from Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier (recorded live in Chicago, 1956)



1867 - Umberto Giordano, Foggia, Italy; composer

Wikipedia
Biography

Jon Vickers sings "Come un bel dì di maggio" from Andrea Chenier


Jose Carreras, with Mirella Freni, sings "Amor ti vieta" from Giordano's Fedora (Barcelona, 1993)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 21 (L. Boulanger, Janet Baker)

1893 - Lili Boulanger, Paris, France; composer

Wikipedia
Women of Note

Lili Boulanger's Psalm 24 for chorus, organ and orchestra (Monteverdi Choir and London Symphony Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner conductor)



1933 - Janet Baker, Hatfield, England; opera and concert mezzo-soprano

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures


Janet Baker sings:

"Che farò senza Euridice?" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (studio performance, 1982)


Schubert's "Who is Sylvia?", accompanied by Murray Perahia (at Covent Garden)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 19 (Enescu, G. Schwarz, A. Monk)

1881 - George Enescu, Liveni, Romania; composer, conductor, violinist, pianist, teacher

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

TRAFFIC String Quintet plays Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody (live concert, Bucharest, 2008)



1947 - Gerard Schwarz, Weekawken, U.S.A.; conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

Gerard Schwarz rehearses the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Louis Gruenberg's Violin Concerto (Koh Gabriel Kameda, violin; Tokyo, 2002)



1942 - Allan Monk, Mission, Canada; opera and concert baritone

Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)

Allan Monk and Marilyn Horne sing "Ai capricci delle sorte" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri (Metropolian Opera, 1986)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 15 (Coleridge-Taylor, Ciccolini, Hunter)

1875 - Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, London, England; composer and conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and more

Julian Joseph plays "Deep River" from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's 24 Negro Melodies



1925 - Aldo Ciccolini, Naples, Italy; pianist

Biography and pictures

Aldo Ciccolini plays Four Mazurkas Op. 30 by Chopin



1933 - Rita Hunter, Wallasey, England; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Official website

Rita Hunter as Brünnhilde

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 14 (Prêtre, Tagliavini)

1924 - Georges Prêtre, Waziers, France; conductor

Wikipedia
Biography

Georges Prêtre conducts the Radio Symphonieorchester Stuttgart in Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 1



1913 - Ferruccio Tagliavini, Reggio Emilia, Italy; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Obituary (The Independent, London, Feb. 1995)

Ferruccio Tagliavini sings "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 13 (Battle, Grove)

1948 - Kathleen Battle, Portsmouth, U.S.A.; opera and concert soprano

Short Biography & pictures
Wikipedia

Kathleen Battle sings:

with Pavarotti, "Prendi, per me sei libero" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore (Metropolitan Opera, 1990)


"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (National Centre of Performing Arts, Beijing, June 2008)



1820 - George Grove, London, England; musicologist (Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians)

Wikipedia
Grove's Dictionary

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 12 (Tourangeau, Biber)

1940 - Huguette Tourangeau, Montreal, Canada; opera mezzo-soprano

Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)

Huguette Tourangeau (with Allan Monk) sings "Batti batti, o bel Masetto" from Mozart's Don Giovanni (The Met., 1978)


Huguette Tourangeau and Joan Sutherland sing "Viens, Mallika" (Flower Duet) from Delibes' Lakmé



1644 - Heinrich von Biber, Wartenberg, Bohemia; composer and violinist

Wikipedia

Agnus Dei from Mass in B flat major (Gabrieli Consort and Players, director Paul McCreesh)


Sonata "La Battaglia" in D major (Il Giardino Armonico, director Giovanni Antonini)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 4 (Voigt, J. Thomas)

1960 - Deborah Voigt, Chicago, U.S.A.; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Homepage

Deborah Voigt sings "Suicidio" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda (Barcelona, 2005)



1927 - Jess Thomas, Hot Springs, U.S.A.; opera tenor

Wikipedia

JessThomas and Inge Borkh sing "O namenlose Freude!" from Beethoven's Fidelio (early 1990s)

Today's Birthdays in Music: August 2 (Bliss, Janowitz)

1891 - Arthur Bliss, London, England; composer

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Allegro Furioso movement of Bliss's Piano Quartet in A (Chamber Domaine at Gresham College, London, 2007)



1937 - Gundula Janowitz, Berlin, Germany; opera and concert soprano

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Gundula Janowitz sings "Ach ich fuhl's" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (Aix-en-Provence, 1963)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 29 (Schreier, Theodorakis)

1935 - Peter Schreier, Meissen, Germany; opera and concert tenor, conductor

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

Peter Schreier sings "Svegliatevi nel core" from Handel's Giulio Cesare (Munich Bach Orchestra, conducted by Karl Richter, 1969)



1925 - Mikis Theodorakis, Chios, Greece; composer

Wikipedia
Homepage

Excerpt from Zorbas, ballet-opera by Theodorakis (Arena di Verona, 1990)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 27 (del Monaco, Granados)

1915 - Mario del Monaco, Florence, Italy; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Homepage

Mario del Monaco sings "E lucevan le stelle" from Puccini's Tosca (1972)



1867 - Enrique Granados, Lérida, Spain; composer

Wikipedia

Jacqueline du Pré plays "Intermezzo" from Goyescas by Granados (1962)

Today's Birthday in Music: July 25 (Forrester)

1930 - Maureen Forrester, Montreal, Canada; contralto, teacher, administrator

Biography (Enclycopedia of Music in Canada)
Je me souviens de Maureen Forrester (La Scena Musicale, February 2006)

Maureen Forrester sings:

"Urlicht" from Mahler's 2nd symphony, 4th mvt. (orchestra directed by Glenn Gould, 1957)

English folk song "Blow the wind southerly" with John Newmark at the piano (CBC broadcast, 1965)


"Che puro ciel" from Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice (Charles Mackerras directs the orchestra)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 24 (di Stefano, Bloch)

1921 - Giuseppe di Stefano, Motta Sant'Anastasia, Italy; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Obituary (The Guardian, March 3, 2008)

Giuseppe di Stefano sings "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" from Bizet's Carmen (1956)



1880 - Ernest Bloch, Geneva, Switzerland; composer

Wikipedia
Brief biography and pictures

Ernest Bloch's Concerto grosso No. 2, 3rd mvt., Allegro (Zuercher Akademie Kammerensemble, conductor Christopher Morris Whiting)


Violinist Yuri Beliavsky and pianist Daniel Beliavsky perform "Nigun" from Bloch's Baal Shem Suite (University of Wisconsin, 2004)

Today's Birthday in Music: July 22 (Albanese)

1913 - Licia Albanese, Bari, Italy; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Profile (San Francisco Chronicle, 2004)

Licia Albanese sings:

The Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (1951, Leopold Stokowski conducting)


"Stridono lassù" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (1951)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 19 (Neel, Braun, Glennie)

1905 - Boyd Neel, Blackheath, England; conductor, administrator, educator


Biography


1965 - Russell Braun, Frankfurt, Germany; opera and concert baritone

Biography

David Pomeroy and Russel Braun sing "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles (Ottawa Under the Stars, 2007)



1965 - Evelyn Glennie, Aberdeen, Scotland; percussionist

Wikipedia
Homepage

Segment from Evelyn Glennie documentary

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 18 (Schafer, Viardot, Masur)

1933 - R. Murray Schafer, Sarnia, Canada; composer

Biography


1821 - Pauline Viardot, Paris, France; concert and opera mezzo-soprano; composer

Wikipedia

Cecilia Bartoli sings Pauline Viardot's "Havanaise"

1927 - Kurt Masur, Brieg, Germany; conductor

Official website

Kurt Masur conducting the NY Philharmonic in Schumann's Rhenish Symphony, 4th mvt. (1995)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 17 (Upshaw, Steber)

1960 - Dawn Upshaw, Nashville, U.S.A.; opera and concert soprano

Biography & pictures
Interview

Dawn Upshaw sings "Gently, Little Boat" from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress (with Gerry Hadley). Opéra de Lyon, 1996.



1914 - Eleanor Steber, Wheeling, U.S.A.; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Biography & pictures

Elanor Steber sings "Ist mein Liebster dahin?" from Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten (Carnegie Hall, 1958)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 15 (Margison, Bream, Birtwistle)

1953 - Richard Margison, Victoria, Canada; opera tenor

Biography and pictures
Richard Margison - In Constant Motion (La Scena Musicale, 2002)

Richard Margison sings "Cielo e mar!" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 2005)



1933 - Julian Bream, London, England; guitarest and lutenist

Wikipedia
Guitare Diffusion Biography

Julian Bream (self-duet) plays "Fandango" by Luigi Boccherini



1933 - Harrison Birtwistle, Accrington, England; composer

Wikipedia
New York Times on Harrison Birtwistle

Scenes from Punch and Judy, Act I, by Harrison Birtwistle (Rupert Bergmann as Punch, Hamburg 2001)

Today's Birthday in Music: July 13 (Bergonzi)

1924 - Carlo Bergonzi, Vidalenzo, Italy; opera tenor

Wikipedia

Carlo Bergonzi sings:

(at age 65) "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore (Newark. N.J., 1989)


"Ah si ben mio" from Verdi's Il Trovatore (Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, 1969)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 12 (Cliburn, Flagstad)

1934 - Van Cliburn, Shreveport, U.S.A.; pianist

Wikipedia
Dallas Morning News article (2008)

Van Cliburn plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, 2nd mvt., Kirill Kondrashin conducting (Moscow, 1962)



1895 - Kirsten Flagstad, Hamar, Norway; opera soprano

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Kirsten Flagstad sings "Liebestod" from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (her debut performance at Covent Garden, 1936; Fritz Reiner conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 11 (Boyd, Gedda, Prey)

1949 - Liona Boyd, London, England; guitarist

Wikipedia
Official website

Liona Boyd in concert



1925 - Nicolai Gedda, Stockholm, Sweden; opera tenor

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Nicolai Gedda as Chapelau (singing in German) in Adolph Adam's Le postillon de Lonjumeau



1929 - Hermann Prey, Berlin, Germany; opera bass-baritone

Wikipedia
Short biography and pictures

Hermann Prey as Don Carlo singing in German "Son Pereda" from Verdi's La Forza del Destino

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 10 (Orff, Welitsch)

1895 - Carl Orff, Munich, Germany; composer

Orff-Zentrum München website

John van Kesteren sings "Und Sie Brachten" from Orff's opera Der Mond (Munich, 1965)


"O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana (BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, Cardiff, 1994)



1913 - Ljuba Welitsch, Borissovo, Bulgaria; opera soprano

Wikipedia

Ljuba Welitsch sings "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer ... Leise, leise ..." from Weber's Der Freischütz

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 3 (Janáček, Fassbaender)

1854 - Leoš Janáček, Hukvaldy, Moravia (Czech Republic); composer

Wiki entry
Homepage

From the House of the Dead - final scene (Aix en Province Festival 2007, Pierre Boulez conducting)



1939 - Brigitte Faessbender, Berlin, Germany; opera mezzo-soprano

Biography

Brigitte Fassbaender as Prince Orlofsky in Strauss's Die Fledermaus (Bavarian State Opera, led by Carlos Kleiber, whose birthday is also July 3)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 28 (Hampson, Joachim)

1955 - Thomas Hampson, Elkhart, Indiana; opera and recital baritone

Wiki entry
Biography & pictures
Interview (1998)

Thomas Hampson sings "Die zwei blauen Augen" from Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)



1831 - Joseph Joachim, Kittsee, Hungary; violinist, conductor, composer

Wiki entry
Biography

Joseph Joachim plays his Romance in C major

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 27 (Moffo, dal Monte)

1932 - Anna Moffo, Wayne, U.S.A.; opera and recital soprano

Wiki entry
Photos
Obituary (The Independent, London, March 2006)

Anna Moffo sings "Un bel di" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly



1893 - Toti dal Monte, Mogliano Veneto, Italy; opera soprano

Wiki entry

Toti dal Monte sings "Caro Nome" from Verdi's Rigoletto (1924)

Today's Birthdays in Music: June 26 (Abbado, Taddei)

1933 - Claudio Abbado, Milan, Italy; c